FAA failed to properly review 737 MAX jet anti-stall system: report

An international panel of air safety regulators on Friday harshly criticized the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) review of a safety system on Boeing Co's 737 MAX jet that was later tied to two crashes that killed 346 people.

The Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) was commissioned by the FAA in April to look into the agency's oversight and approval of the so-called MCAS anti-stall system before the fatal crashes.

"The JATR team found that the MCAS was not evaluated as a complete and integrated function in the certification documents that were submitted to the FAA," the 69-page series of findings and recommendations said.

"The lack of a unified top-down development and evaluation of the system function and its safety analyses, combined with the extensive and fragmented documentation, made it difficult to assess whether compliance was fully demonstrated."

The JATR draft recommendations also said the FAA's long-standing practice of delegating "a high level" of certification tasks to manufacturers like Boeing needs significant reform to ensure adequate safety oversight.

Reuters obtained the report ahead of its public release on Friday. Boeing said it had no immediate comment ahead of the report's release.

The report comes as regulators around the world continue to scrutinize proposed software changes and training revisions from Boeing that would eventually the resumption of flights.

Boeing's top-selling airplane has been grounded worldwide since a March 10 crash in Ethiopia killed 157 people, five months after a Lion Air 737 MAX crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people on board.

The report also questioned FAA's limited staffing to oversee certification tasks it designated to Boeing and said there were an "inadequate number of FAA specialists" involved in the 737 MAX certification.

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement he would look at the panel's recommendations and take appropriate action following the "unvarnished and independent review of the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX."

REUTERS